How To | Use Affiliate Links

If you've heard of affiliates but not sure what they are, how to use them or where to find them, then you have just landed in just the  right place! Affiliates can be confusing as first, but once you get the hang of them, you will always be using them all over your blog. Read of for my tips and also the 'rules' of using them.

Affiliates are links which contain tracking information to the brands website, normally through a third party site and it shows  the retailer that the sale has come from you and your blog This generates a small percentage of commission for you. Sometimes the commission is given from just a click on the link, on others it has to be a sale - it depends on the network which you are using to get the links. So basically, it is a tracked link to the retailer that can earn you a few pence over time on something you would have linked to anyway.


There are a number of way to use affiliates, as the come in a few different forms but the most common are -

Links - pretty self-explanatory really. Just add the link in as normal but use the one from the affiliate network instead.

Widgets - you can create all sorts of little (or big!) widgets for your blog! These are an amazing way for people to shop the items in your post/blog, using just the store images. It is definitely a more visual way to use affiliates than just the links and to your readers, it's almost like they are shopping from the stores website. One example of where I used a widget would be on my Sale Shoes - The Edit post.

Banners - not something I'm using at the moment, so I can't give an example but I can explain them! These are normally found in the side or bottom bars on blogs and are a direct, but tracked link to a brands site. You can either create these for yourself or the brand with send them to you. You can't normally find these on the third party affiliate sites, they have to come directly from the retailer.

Instagram apps - probably still the newest form of affiliate links, some of the affiliate networks allow your followers to shop directly through Instagram using their phones.

Shop page - you can also create a shop my look/wardrobe or wish list page on your blog - a good use of the widgets. This means that readers can go straight to that page and find everything that has been shown in your blog or social media all in one place and but if they wish. Make sure you check out my Shop My Look page which is always being updated!


There are a number of different affiliate networks you can apply to be apart of. Some are a lot harder to get onto than others, as some are more invite only. I have listed below the most popular ones -

Reward Style - includes liketoknow.it for Instagram

Skimlinks

Shopstyle

Affiliate Window

Wearisma

Rakuten

I personally use Shop Style, as I feel it suits my blog the best at the moment and has all the brands and retailers I buy from or lust after items from. You can also create everything mentioned above through the network other than banners, which I don't use anyway. I have tried a couple of the other affiliate networks mentioned above but have always gone back to Shop Style.

Important!

If you are using affiliate links anywhere on your blog, you must state this on the post or page where they are being used and also include that you use affiliates in your blog disclaimer. Also, if you use the affiliated links on social media, you must also disclaim them - I just use #aff or #affiliate. This is so that anyone who isn't a blogger or doesn't know that this is how you earn a little money from blogging, won't know that they are technically being advertised to as it isn't completely obvious. Also, as Google and the ASA are starting to look more into bloggers and what we are doing, it's always safe to be covered from all angles right?!

Bit of a long post, so I do apologise but I had to cover everything for you! Remember, don't go expecting to earn a huge amount from affiliates straight away, it does take time oh and don't just use and link everything, just link as you would normally so you don't make your blog and social media look spammy. You can also apply the tips I gave for Promoting On Social Media when putting affiliate links on there.

If you have any questions about affiliates or anything you would like a blog tips post on, please let me know!
Love Laura x